Psalm 119:65-72 - Good Affliction

You won't do anything as valuable today as reading God's Word!

Photo: Alice Rouse, via Unsplash

---

Psalm 119:65–72 (NIV)

ט Teth

(Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem, with each of its 22 sections beginning with a successive letter in the Hebrew alefbet (alphabet). In this section where each line begins with the letter ט, five of the eight lines begin with the word ṭôb, which means 'good.'

⁶⁵ Do good to your servant

according to your word, Lord.

⁶⁶ Teach me knowledge and good judgment,

for I trust your commands.

⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted I went astray,

but now I obey your word.

⁶⁸ You are good, and what you do is good;

teach me your decrees.

⁶⁹ Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,

I keep your precepts with all my heart.

⁷⁰ Their hearts are callous and unfeeling,

but I delight in your law.

⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted

so that I might learn your decrees.

⁷² The law from your mouth is more precious to me

than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

---

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Point 3 - Total Depravity

Point 4 - Irresistible Grace

Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints

Article 7: Renewal to Repentance

• God preserves in His saints when they fall

  • his imperishable seed

  • from which they have been born again,

  • lest it perish or be dislodged.
    

• Also, by His Word and Spirit

  • he certainly and effectively renews them to repentance

  • so that

    • they have a heartfelt and godly sorrow for the sins they have committed;

    • they seek and obtain,

      • through faith and with a contrite heart,

      • forgiveness in the blood of the Mediator;

    • they experience again the grace of a reconciled God;

    • they through faith adore his mercies;

    • and that they from then on more eagerly work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.

---

Summary

Did you notice all of the words highlighted in blue as you read through the psalm? The entire psalter uses synonyms like commands, decrees, precepts and laws as poetic stand ins to represent scripture, the very words of God. The 119th Psalm, this grand poetic masterpiece, goes all in as it sings the benefits and blessings of the Bible.

But this particular strophe of Psalm 119 isn't about God's Word per se, rather it describes the effects that God's Word has. The Bible:

• reminds of God's faithfulness;

• teaches knowledge and good judgement;

• keeps us from going astray;

• demonstrates how we can be ṭôb (good) as God is ṭôb;

• brings the reader delight;

• is more precious than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

As we close another week out, the ט Teth section of Psalm 119 reminds us once again of why it is that it's so important for you to read scripture every day. It's not just some arbitrary religious rule you need to comply with, rather it's very much for your benefit! What else will you do today that will bring you true delight and be worth more than thousands of pieces of silver and gold?

  Dig Deeper  

It's the psalmist's admission in v67 that grabs our attention today:

⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted I went astray,

but now I obey your word.

We don't know what this affliction was or what sin the psalmist committed to incur it, but that really doesn't matter. What's important here is the connection the psalmist makes between sin, suffering and sanctification. In other words, we are often subjected to divinely ordained suffering because of our sin, suffering that God uses to sanctify us - that is, to teach us His decrees (it's important to note that not all suffering comes as a direct result of a particular sin).

This is the good grief that God uses to pull you back when you go astray. The Canons describe it as a heartfelt and godly sorrow for the sins you have committed. Through it, the Spirit causes you to seek and obtain forgiveness in the blood of the Mediator.

Or as the Psalmist puts it here in the 119th,

⁷¹ It was good (ṭôb) for me to be afflicted

so that I might learn your decrees.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is good (ṭôb) and what He does is good (ṭôb);

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would learn from your afflictions so that you would cling to your Mediator, learn from God's decrees, and go on to obey His Word;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

---

Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 1 Thessalonians 2